The Battle of Kirksville
by MoAirBear
Summary: A chapter from the official history of the Missouri National Guard during the 2nd American Civil War


"The Battle of Kirksville" – an excerpt from "The Missouri National Guard in the Second American Civil War," Missouri Government Publishing, Jefferson City, Missouri, 2020.

Chapter 3 "The Northern Border Conflict"

Part 1 – "The Approaching Storm"

In the months following the terrorist attack upon many urban areas in the United States, state and Federal government control collapsed in many parts of the country and pushed many local governments into either anarchy or despotism.

In the city and the area around Davenport, Iowa, it was a combination of both that led to the formation of the "Knights of Purity" under the leadership of the self-appointed "Lord of Davenport," who, prior to the attacks and subsequent unrest that followed, had been a city commissioner of Davenport, one Albert Falkes.

Falkes, who was reported to be a medieval historian and a member of a medieval reenacting organization, became acting mayor upon the sudden death of much of the city council and upper city government in an explosion at city hall. It is still unknown if Falkes had responsibility for this or if he just avoided being killed by sheer luck on his part.

Following this abrupt rise to mayor, Falkes began to consolidate his power and for three months following the explosion, was able to keep the city running until the onset of winter. The winter that year was particularly hard and the loss of electrical and gas power along with a shortage of food led to the first of Falkes' draconian measures.

That winter Falkes selected those individuals who he deemed to be "unneeded mouths" and had them removed from the area under his control. His decision led to the deaths of over 48,000 people, both Davenport natives and refugees, from exposure and hunger in the subzero temperatures. Many of these people headed south towards the Missouri border, but perished on the way due to exposure. The few that did reach the Missouri border fared no better as much of the area had been previously stripped clear of food and fuel. Of the 48,000 plus expelled people, less than 2500 survived the expulsion and many were saved by members of the Kirksville Militia, a city defense unit built around the local college's ROTC unit.

Falkes then seized the Federal arsenal at Rock Island, Illinois (located just east of Davenport), thereby acquiring a large supply of weapons and ammunition. The few remaining Federal employees that had not left the arsenal after the terrorist attacks were either killed or forced to labor under "pain of death" to build or repair the equipment seized by Falkes.

The majority of what Falkes seized was small arms, light armored vehicles and three rebuilt M1 Abrams heavy tanks. This seizure would prove to be the beginning of Falkes' rise to power and aggression upon his neighbors in all directions. It is believed that this seizure also led to his later decisions of re-naming himself the "Lord of Davenport."

A month after the seizure, Falkes narrowly avoided being killed by an unidentified assassin. However, the attack killed several of his family and he was badly injured, losing his right eye and several fingers of his left hand. Falkes blamed the attack on "outside evil influences from the south" and began to prepare for an invasion of northeastern Missouri.

But it was not just revenge that spurred him on, the area around Davenport could no longer support the remaining population and a war would draw attention away from the problems that the city faced in both food and government services.

Falkes took the various members of his ruling council who swore allegiance to him and made them "Barons" and "Dukes" to rule over certain areas while he proclaimed himself "Lord Protector of the Davenport State," the unofficial title was "Lord Davenport." Falkes also took those armed elements of the former Davenport police, fire and emergency services, the small element of the Iowa National Guard that served as the core of his army, and the armed mercenaries/marauders in his employ and formed them into a single force known as the "Knights of Purity."

The "Knights of Purity," despite its name, was not a racist organization. If one swore loyalty to Falkes, it did not matter to him who or what one was, what their sex, skin color, religion, etc. was, or what they had been prior to the terrorist attacks. The Knights were the best fed of all of the citizens of Davenport and wielded power not unlike the Waffen-SS and the Gestapo of Nazi Germany. A "Knight" could kill a citizen with no fear of punishment provided they could show either a "writ of purity" provided by the city-state government or in "self-defense." Outsiders or "enemies of the state" could be killed without any paperwork or authority by the "Knights."

The Missouri state government had become aware of the situation developing north of its border through refugees and monitored radio broadcasts from Davenport. The new Missouri Governor ordered a detachment of Missouri National Guard soldiers to the border to maintain order and prevent any possible border "problems."

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To be continued…….. Part 2 - "Fire on the Border"

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"The Battle of Kirksville" – an excerpt from "The Missouri National Guard in the Second American Civil War," Missouri Government Publishing, Jefferson City, Missouri, 2020.

Chapter 3 "The Northern Border Conflict"

Part 2 - "Fire on the Border"

The initial soldiers that deployed to the northern border were a detachment of the 205th Military Police Battalion from Poplar Bluff, Missouri. This 100 person unit under the command of Captain Gregory Bingham was supported by 30 assigned personnel from various scattered Army reserve units and recalled recent Guard retirees. The unit was initially based at the Macon, Missouri armory and then moved a week later to Kirksville, Missouri where it absorbed the duties and selected personnel of the Kirksville Militia.

Bolstered by the Kirksville Militia, the military police began to patrol along the Missouri-Iowa border from the Mississippi River at Keokuk, Iowa to Lancaster, Missouri. At Keokuk the military police made contact with Detachment 1, Company C, 224th Engineer Battalion of the Iowa National Guard that was guarding the town (which was the county seat of Lee County), the road and rail bridges, and the highly strategic hydroelectric generating plant that was still putting out power to the surrounding area.

The Humvee- and horse-mounted National Guardsmen at first had no contact with either refugees or members of the "Knights of Purity" until an ambush 25 miles west of Keokuk that led to the deaths of four guardsmen and the capture of two wounded "Knights." The remaining "Knights" retreated back across the Iowa border. These two captured individuals had Falkes-signed "writs of purity" that gave them permission to cross the Missouri border and attack "any and all enemies of the state of Davenport" regardless of size or condition.

The subsequent interrogation of the captured "Knights" revealed that Falkes was planning on a campaign that would bring much of his army south within a month. The Missouri state government ordered other National Guard units to prepare for a northern move to be ready for a coming attack.

For the next month the border remained quiet. Patrols from the Davenport army were spotted in the distance from the patrolling guardsmen along the border, but no incidents were reported. However, a reconnaissance flight by the 131st Fighter Wing spotted large concentrations of military equipment and personnel gathering to the southwest of Davenport. Aerial photographs showed a number of armored vehicles, artillery (both self-propelled and horse-drawn) and about 9,000 armed personnel training and preparing to head south.

The Missouri state government then shipped via rail transport the remaining members of the 205th Military Police Battalion, the 1138th Engineer Company, Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery, and elements of the 135th Aviation Battalion. A week later they would be joined at Kirksville by both Company C of the 140th Armored Infantry (a provisional unit made up of several tanks and Missouri Guardsmen that held infantry and armor specialties) and a Forward Air Control detachment from the 131st Fighter Wing. The entire number of this force was less than 1500 total effectives.

Ten days later a second reconnaissance flight reported that the Davenport army had left its cantonment areas and was headed southwest in the direction of Kirksville and the National Guard units dug in around the city. The commander in charge of the defense of Kirksville was Colonel Richard Getter of the 129th Field Artillery. He decided on a bold plan, instead of trying to defend the entire border, he realized that the enemy force was fixated on the city of Kirksville and would approach on a near straight course from Davenport to Kirksville. The enemy force's lack of a logistic trail back to Davenport meant that the Falkes-led force would have to "live off the land" for food and supplies and while large and heavily armed, was an unwieldy conglomerate of high-tech and well-trained units to groups that were little more than an armed mob. Colonel Getter decided to use this to his advantage.

The Davenport force slowly lumbered southwest usually only covering ten miles a day or less. On the fourth day of the campaign, the Davenport army crossed the Iowa River and left the claimed area of the "State of Davenport." Once the army moved southwest the gloves came off.

The "Knights of Purity" then began a systematic campaign of rapine and terror upon the inhabitants of the region as they moved southwest. Anything of value was deemed "fair game" by Falkes. He proclaimed that his army was "moving south to rescue and free the people of Missouri from the despotic government at Jefferson City." And sadly, there were people in Missouri who believed him.

In the months prior to his invasion, Falkes had sent representatives south to make contact with those he felt would support or aid him in his conquest. The two individuals that he had the best luck with was the religious leader in the southwest part the Ozarks and the base commander of Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. The plan the three laid down in secret was for the three groups to act at the same time to draw away any large force from forming to defeat any one of the three individually.

But the base commander was already under a cloud for releasing all the basic trainees from the base following the terrorist attacks and for fiery statements that led several unit commanders on the base to suspect the commanders sanity.

Upon hearing that Falkes was headed south towards Missouri, the base commander declared for the "Lord of Davenport" and ordered the units on base to attack Jefferson City. The majority of the base personnel did not participate in this action and fighting broke out between the base commander's force and the other units on base. After three days of combat, the base commander and his remaining soldiers retreated onto Cannon Range located in the southern part of the base where a bombing run from Whiteman AFB decimated him and his remaining followers. (For more on this see Chapter 2, "Federal Military Problems")

In the Ozarks, the self-proclaimed "Joan of the Ozarks" began a campaign of terror on small towns that did not meet her criteria on religion. Her actions resulted in what would be called "The Ozark Campaign." However, her actions did not draw off any proposed reinforcements for the northern defense. But some of the veterans of the "Battle of Kirksville" would later see action against her. (For more on this see Chapter 5, "The Ozark Campaign")

Falkes' army continued to lumber southwest, keeping up its decision to cut a path of destruction across its line of march. This effort sent area residents that had survived both the winter and the refugee migration fleeing southwards towards the Missouri border.

In an attempt to slow down the advancing army, a local Iowa militia unit made up of ex-soldiers and farmers made a stand at Cedar Creek where they were able to destroy the bridges and hold back the "Knights" for a day until they were outflanked. The militia unit fell back to Keosauqua, a fortified town on the Des Moines River. Falkes detached 3,000 of his force to lay siege to the town.

A week later the "Knights of Purity" crossed the Missouri border and headed straight for Kirksville. The battle for the control of northeastern Missouri had begun.

To be continued…….. Part 3 - "The Battle of Kirksville"

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"The Battle of Kirksville" – an excerpt from "The Missouri National Guard in the Second American Civil War," Missouri Government Publishing, Jefferson City, Missouri, 2020.

Chapter 3 "The Northern Border Conflict"

Part 3 - "The Battle of Kirksville"

As the "Knights of Purity" and their paid allies crossed the Missouri border the forward elements of the Missouri National Guard began a slow retreat back to the defensive line north of Kirksville. But the National Guard did not give up ground lightly to the invaders.

Sniper teams and scout elements mounted on either horse-back or motorcycles would set up on the flanks of the Davenport Army's advance and wait for the right time. An officer addressing his men would suddenly tumble over in death; a small forging party would go out and never return, a group of "Knights" sitting around a campfire would have one of their own drop without a sound, and so on.

Another fly in the "Knights" advance was the use of air power by the Missouri forces. Attached to some of the teams on the enemy flanks were part of the Forward Air Control (FAC) section of the 131st Fighter Wing. When fuel was available for flight missions, the FAC would vector in an F-15 or F-16 for a fast ground attack mission. The "Knights" had no aircraft available to counter the attacks and they suffered heavy losses in both men and material. But the Davenport Army continued to advance.

The main defense line for the Missouri Guard was located near the small town of Queen City, which sits astride Highway 63, the main travel artery from the Iowa border to Kirksville, there Colonel Getter placed his forces. He knew that the Davenport Army would have to advance down Highway 63 as it was the only logical route of advance.

He placed his artillery in the hills west of the town. The artillery was Battery D of the 129th Field Artillery. In World War I they had been commanded by a young man by the name of Harry Truman and had been known from that time on as "Truman's Own." But the battery no longer had cannons; they were now armed with a brand-new weapon, the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) that had gained the name of "steel rain" by defeated Iraqi forces in 2003 due to its devastating effects.

The 205th Military Police Battalion and the 1138th Engineer Company dug in just north of the town and the engineer company proceeded to build tank ditches and fighting positions for the coming battle. The 140th Armored Infantry (Company C) became the reserve, the three tanks to be used as a "fire brigade" to stop any enemy breakthrough that might occur. The 135th Aviation unit was at the Kirksville airport, ready to take to the air. They would not have long to wait.

Two days later a large dust cloud could be seen on the northern horizon by the defenders of Queen City, it was the approaching "Knights of Purity." Falkes had been pushing them hard, possibly reasoning that the closer they got to Kirksville, the more vicious his army would get in anticipation of the "fruits of victory" present in Kirksville.

Falkes' army spread out across the open terrain and began to advance in open order. It is believed that Falkes put his more untrained forces out first to absorb the losses that he knew would occur. The majority of his "Knights of Purity" he held back in reserve and as a stiffener for the units that might suffer a loss of morale due to causalities.

At 0930 Colonel Getter gave the command for the artillery to fire. The gunners of Battery D punched in the firing coordinates, closed the shutters and hatches of their vehicles and then listened as the large steel boxes on the rear of the vehicles lifted up into firing position. Then with a clockwork precision, the missiles began to fire.

The missiles roared from the firing tubes and lanced through the air. The lead elements of Falks' army took the heaviest losses as the missiles detonated above them, scattering thousands of sub-munitions over them. These sub-munitions could not destroy a tank, but could damage the tracks and destroy antennas. But what these sub-munitions did to light vehicles and unprotected personnel was horrific. Soldiers of Falkes' army who were under this bombardment were either killed outright or terribly injured. And the "Knights of Purity" had almost no medical services available for the wounded.

Falkes ordered his army to increase its rate of advancement. He probably realized that the closer he got to the Missourians' front line; the artillery's punch would be negated.

The artillery fired its second volley and Falkes' army in the front line was surprised to see the missiles pass over them. A ragged cheer went up until many realized that the artillery wasn't aimed at them this time, but at their own artillery in the rear that had just fired on Queen City. Once again, the sub-munitions made quick work of their targets; Falkes' army had suffered an irreplaceable loss.

But Falkes and his "Knights of Purity" sensed that they had passed the point where the Missouri artillery could fire on them and Falkes' ordered a charge of his armored vehicles and mounted infantry. His army headed straight for the dug-in Missourians.

Then Colonel Getter sprung his trap. The "Knights of Purity" overran the first line of defense only to find it empty, only dummies in uniforms and fake weapons held the line. The Missourians had fallen back into the town and they opened fire on the confused invaders.

Wire-guided and free-fire anti-tank missiles launched from the town into the now-slowed enemy advance. Vehicles exploded into flame and the resulting shrapnel cut down even more of Falkes' shrinking numbers.

But Falkes was not yet finished; he ordered of his remaining armor and mounted infantry a final charge into the Missourian's lines. As his force made contact on the military police and engineers, the door was slammed shut as the 140th's three tanks hit him on his left flank and the Apache attack helicopters took him by surprise from the rear.

Close-in combat raged through the town as tank hunted tank, soldier hunted "knight," and helicopters hunted both with no quarter asked or given. Guardsmen reported that the "knights" fought to the death and after several guardsmen were killed after surrendering to the "knights," none of Falkes' army that was in the town were taken prisoner.

By 1100 it was all over. The remaining of Falkes' forces that were outside of Queen City began to retreat back towards the Iowa border and hoped for safety. Falkes' burned-out command tank* was found near the center of the town and a number of charred bodies was pulled from it, though Falkes' body was never positively identified, it is believed that he died in said vehicle.

Colonel Getter took time to consolidate his forces and then on the next day, took up the pursuit of the retreating Davenport Army.

To be continued…….. Part 4 - "The Pursuit"

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*** Note:**Falkes' command vehicle was a rebuilt M-103 heavy tank that had been sitting in a Davenport park since the early 1970s. This tank is now on display on the Missouri State Capitol grounds in Jefferson City. Facing it from across the street is "Battle Cat," the M-60A1 heavy tank that destroyed it. "Battle Cat" also participated in the Ozark Campaign and was a survivor of Task Force MoBear (For more on this see Chapter 7 – "Task Force MoBear").

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"The Battle of Kirksville" – an excerpt from "The Missouri National Guard in the Second American Civil War," Missouri Government Publishing, Jefferson City, Missouri, 2020.

Chapter 3 "The Northern Border Conflict"

Part 4 - "The Pursuit"

With the loss of Falkes and most of his command staff, the retreat of the Davenport Army degenerated into a rout. Many units of said army broke up and dispersed into small groups of desperate people. Other units continued to retreat with cohesion. It is hard to decide which was a better tactic based on what would happen on the retreat.

Colonel Getter ordered the attack helicopters to seek out and destroy any large group of 25 or more individuals or any group with vehicles. For the most part the Apache attack helicopters became "flying angels of death" as they roamed across the line of retreat, attacking and destroying the faltering remains of the Davenport army. Orders had come down to Getter to "make an example" of the Davenport army to hopefully prevent a future invasion of Missouri.

But occasionally the retreating Davenport army was able to make a stand, albeit a short and costly one. One of the most brutal air-to-ground battles happened just outside the small Iowa town of Argyle where four attack helicopters of the 135th Aviation were vectored in by a small scout element of the Missouri Guard to attack a large column of the "Knights of Purity" that was retreating back towards Davenport.

The following is a report by Warrant Officer Robert Michael Czensatski of 2nd Troop, 135th Aviation:

"_Our flight of 4 AH-64 Apaches was ordered to attack a large column just north of Argyle. We decided to come in from the north and attack along the column's axis, thereby forcing them to fire over each other instead of attacking from the side which would give them the advantage in defense._

_We were the third in line, but the commander decided to have us attack in groups of two down the column to offset their numerical advantage. The enemy column consisted of about 400 personnel, a large number of soft-skinned vehicles, both military and civilian, and two armored personnel carriers that had escaped from the fighting around Queen City._

_The commander's helicopter and ours attacked first down the column, firing everything we had for the greatest effect. Our 25mm chain guns ripped apart the unprotected personnel and our 2.75 inch rockets shredded the vehicles. The second flight was slower and more methodical in their attack, taking time to pick out the larger groups and remaining vehicles to destruction. _

_On our second run down the column we took hits from a heavy machine gun that had survived the initial attack runs. The ground fire penetrated our engine and caused us to quickly auto-rotate down into a nearby field. When we impacted we smashed off the landing gear and the rotors were ripped from the rotor hub and disintegrated into pieces. I heard from behind me the pilot, 1__st__ Lieutenant Chris Jacobs; scream in pain when we crashed._

_I popped open the canopy hatch, tumbled out and went to Jacobs' aid. He had been hit by fragments of one of the rotor blades and was bleeding profusely. I pulled him out, fearing a possible fire, due to the leaking aviation fuel._

_I laid him on the ground and pulled off his blood-soaked jacket and tossed it to one side. I attempted to give him first aid, but his massive injuries were too great and he died a few minutes later._

_While I was attempting to save Jacobs' life, two of our remaining helicopters continued to attack the column while the commanders' helicopter hovered nearby and fired on any group that tried to advance towards us on the ground._

_I then heard the sounds of motorcycles coming from behind me; I turned around and drew my pistol, hoping against hope that they were friends. They were. Two motorcycles roared up to me, the first one to me was driven by a female Air Guardsman who pointed to both me and my dead crewmate. I grabbed Jacobs' body and put him on the second motorcycle. The rider hopped off and quickly tied him down like a dead deer and then raced off to the east. I climbed on behind the first rider and we followed the other motorcycle. As I looked back I saw the commander's helicopter fire into the cockpit of our helicopter, setting it on fire._

_We destroyed every vehicle, killed over 350 of the enemy and all of us were decorated by the Governor for our mission, but Jacobs' death still haunts me to this day. I should have seen that heavy machine gun, but I didn't."_

While the helicopters rained death down on the retreating column, the Missouri Ground forces were also pursuing the retreating "Knights" with the same orders of "setting an example." Rarely did the "Knights" and their allies ask to surrender and even more rarely, was surrender granted by the pursuing troops.

One of the final battles of the campaign occurred just south of the Iowa River. The bridges over the river were dropped by air strikes from the 509th Bomb Group from Whitman and from the 131st Fighter Wing. The enemy forces were pinned from the small town of Wapello to the southern riverbank. That part of the retreat turned into a slaughter as the advancing Missouri forces attacked from the south and from above. It is believed that less than 200 of the entire Davenport army survived and crossed the river. The Missouri forces then turned back south and headed for the border. The Missouri Governor refused to put his troops into an urban battle to take the city of Davenport and decided that the Davenport army was not longer a threat to Missouri. That part of the campaign was over when the last Missouri Guardsman crossed back over the border.

But there was still one part of the Davenport army to be dealt with; the siege of Keosauqua was still in progress and would have to be dealt with.

To be continued…….. Part 5 - "The Siege of Keosauqua"

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"The Battle of Kirksville" – an excerpt from "The Missouri National Guard in the Second American Civil War," Missouri Government Publishing, Jefferson City, Missouri, 2020.

Chapter 3 "The Northern Border Conflict"

Part 5 - "The Siege of Keosauqua"

The siege of Keosauqua, Iowa, while not a major part of the advance and retreat of the Davenport army, remains an important part of the campaign. It can be argued that if the Iowa defenders had not held up the Davenport advance at Cedar Creek and subsequent drawing off of three thousand Davenport soldiers, the Battle of Kirksville might have turned out differently.

When the Davenport army crossed the Iowa River and headed south, Falkes announced that all who did not swear a "loyalty oath" to him would "perish by the flaming sword of purity." To many of his army, it was an open invitation for looting and rapine on a grand scale. Any farm or town in the army's path was first looted, and then burned to the ground. Refugees reported numerous cruelties to people of all sexes and ages followed by death in ways that harkened back to the middle ages in Europe.

A large number of farmers, refugees, and scattered individuals of the Iowa National Guard formed a defense force that was named the "Southern Iowa Grange (SIG)" and this force of about 600 made haste to the river crossings at Cedar Creek in an effort to stop the advance of the Davenport army into the southern part of Iowa.

The SIG forces won the race to the river crossings by only 24 hours before the first of the slowly-moving Davenport army elements arrived. The SIG forces first dropped the bridge south of Burlington and then destroyed all the river crossings to the bridge south of Mount Pleasant, Iowa and west of that bridge as well for another 30 miles. The bridge south of Mount Pleasant was deliberately left in place to draw the Davenport army into a "killing zone" where the SIG forces could do the most damage. The SIG forces were aided by a Forward Air Control (FAC) team from the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air Guard. Several of the bridges were taken out by bombing runs by aircraft out of Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri due to both time restraints and lack of needed demolition supplies.

By the time the Davenport army reached the bridge, the SIG forces had completely blocked the bridge with hundreds of abandoned trucks, tractors and combines, many of them welded together to make removal almost impossible. Falkes ordered an infantry attack across the bridge in a quick _coup de main_ attempt that failed when the assaulting infantry were forced to slowly pick their way through the barricades and then came upon numerous booby-traps that savaged their advance.

That night Falkes attempted an all-out attack that included attempts to cross the wide creek with small boats and rafts and an artillery bombardment with guns firing at the wreckage on the bridge to clear it for his infantry. But a lack of communication between the infantry and the artillery caused heavy losses as the infantry attempted to cross the bridge only to be destroyed by their side's artillery fire.

The water-borne attack fared no better, as dozens of small boats were caught in the creek by flares fired by both sides. The Grange forces killed any Davenport soldier that tried to land on the southern bank of the creek. Sadly, many of the Davenport soldiers were also killed by their compatriots on the northern bank when they tried to retreat. Falkes had given his "Knights of Purity" a no-retreat order that had to be obeyed.

At 0400 the next day the bridge was taken out by an air strike that dropped the center section of the bridge into the creek. By the time the Davenport army was able to cross the creek; the defenders had decamped and were headed away from the Davenport advance. Their defense had allowed hundreds of people to abandon their homes and farms before the Davenport army and their policy of rapine and looting could descend upon them.

Falkes was enraged by this defense and he ordered 3,000 soldiers under the command of the "Baron of Muscatine" to pursue and destroy the Grange. The "Baron," a former Iowa Highway Department supervisor, obtained his position by loyalty, not expertise.

The "Baron" pushed his forces hard in pursuit of the retreating Grange forces, but the majority of his force was either horse-drawn or leg-powered. His force only had a few soft-skins and 5 converted armored cars built from money-transfer armored trucks used by several Davenport banks prior to the terrorist attacks.

The remaining Grange troops retreated to the small river town of Keosauqua. Prior to the war, it had been a sleepy little town whose biggest claim to fame was that it had been a stop on the pre-Civil War "Underground Railroad" and that it was the scene of the "Honey War" between Iowans and Missouri tax collectors in 1839.

But it was the defensive value of the town that made it attractive to the defenders. The town sat in a loop of the Des Moines River with only two narrow bridges, one was northwest of the town and the second was on the southeast side of the town. The Grange commander set up her headquarters in the old Hotel Manning, a three story relic from the Des Moines River's steamboat days. The commander was Major Theresa Fleming, a former Iowa National Guard officer; she realized that her defense would depend on the tenacity of her own troops and the inexperience of the "Baron" and his forces.

Major Fleming first had the southeast bridge blocked with old cars and trucks and the other bridge was wired for demolition. Now all they could do was wait.

Two days later the Davenport forces arrived and with what had become typical Davenport tactics, the Davenport army rushed the southeastern bridge. The Baron's troops made three quick thrusts onto the bridge but were repulsed each time. Then the Baron tried to reason with the defenders via a loudspeaker, but no one in Keosauqua believed a word of it.

A silent bystander to this event was one H. "Ray" Townsend, a former inhabitant of California who had crossed the country in his attempt to reach his family in Neoga, Illinois. This excerpt from his diary describes what he and his dog saw that day.

"_Near Keosauqua, Iowa._

_That storm finally blew itself out early this morning. It was a doozy! The shed creaked alarmingly a few times last night, but it held together, enough to keep us just a little damp as opposed to soaking wet. I'm about 3 miles from Keosauqua, Iowa right now, and we're on a low hill in Keosauqua State Park on the other side of the Des Moines River. We've been holed up here for about 3 hours now, and there is a battle raging below us. We're probably too close to the fighting, but I wanted to see what was going on. Apparently the town is under attack, they have a pretty good defensive position however, as the town is on a peninsula formed by the river itself._

_The attackers have vehicles of some sort and are trying to force a crossing on the bridge that leads into town. The defenders have been using artillery of some sort to hold onto their end of the bridge, and as I've been watching, I have seen 3 vehicles completely engulfed in flames, and a fourth get hit pretty severely. It looks as if they've repelled more than one assault, some guy has been screaming through a loudspeaker system the entire time I have been up here, something that I can only catch a phrase here and there of. ......KEOSAUQUA!.......MAND YOU SURR.......KNIGHTS OF PUR.....IF YOU JOI..........US!! The crackle and pop of small arms fire, the heavier thump of grenades, and the roar of whatever type of cannon they have in that town is making it difficult to hear and understand what is being said. Obviously the guy outside of town is upset with the people inside the town, and he's mad that they're not surrendering. I wonder what he meant by Knights of something or other? Maybe the Knights of Columbus started their own army or something? Who knows these days? Like I said, I think I'm a little too close to the fighting right now, and we're going to quietly move on before darkfall. We don't want to end up as collateral victims to whatever is going on here, and the last thing we need to do is be choosing sides in an affair that is none of our concern."_

The artillery that Townsend saw were two WWII-era 105mm howitzers that had been salvaged from a small museum and emplaced at the north end of the bridge. There was a limited amount of ammunition for these guns, so Fleming ordered that every shot had to count.

For the next five days the Baron keep up the siege and even tried to loop around the town on the southern bank of the river and take the northwestern bridge. The defenders observed his movement, and then waited until the last minute before dropping the northwestern bridge into the Des Moines River with heavy losses to the Davenport army.

Then word reached the Baron that Falkes was dead and the Davenport army was in full retreat. The Baron pulled away from the town and started a retreat back towards where he thought the remains of the main army might be. But it wasn't.

The Baron and his remaining soldiers were soon surrounded by a combination of the Grange and Missouri National Guard forces before he could reach the Cedar Creek pontoon bridge that had been put down by Falkes' engineers. The Baron was killed in a futile charge against his pursuers and the few survivors of his force melted into the countryside, many of them were subsequently hunted down and killed by vengeful survivors of the Davenport army's actions. Few if any of them made it back to Davenport.

To be continued…….. Part 6 - "The Final Cost"

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"The Battle of Kirksville" – an excerpt from "The Missouri National Guard in the Second American Civil War," Missouri Government Publishing, Jefferson City, Missouri, 2020.

Chapter 3 "The Northern Border Conflict"

Part 6 - "The Final Cost"

If one uses the number of Missouri Guard casualties as a indication of the importance of the conflict on Missouri's northern border, then the importance doesn't seem as great as the fighting in the Ozarks, the suffering of refugees, both Missourians and those entering the state fleeing the problems of their areas, or even the long journey of Task Force MoBear.

But it was the stopping of the Davenport Army and the "Knights of Purity" that allowed the state of Missouri to help survive the hard times after the terrorist attacks and the subsequent problems that followed that ended with the conclusion of the Second American Civil War and the reestablishment of the United States government.

It can only be surmised what would have happened if the Davenport Army had advanced as far as Kirksville or beyond. Falkes' radio broadcasts prior to his army's southern attack outlined the suffering that would have been laid upon the inhabitants in the area of his army's advance and Missouri itself.

But it was the defense of Queen City itself that was the turning point for Missouri in those dark times. The total destruction of the Davenport Army and the Davenport leadership in the streets of the small town and the area just north of the fighting showed the surrounding states that Missouri was fully capable and ready to defend itself. The ability of the Missouri guardsmen to fight and win regardless of the overwhelming numbers against them became a rallying point for other states undergoing strife within and out of their borders.

Davenport never totally recovered from its problems and is now a mere shell of its pre-war size and population. An out-of –control fire and a severe flood ravaged the downtown that it never recovered from. To this day the government of Iowa struggles to convince people to relocate there, without much success.

The fate of Keosauqua is far different from that of Davenport. Following the years after the battle for the town, the city fathers promoted the fight to the utmost as a symbol of "What free people can do." The two howitzers still guard the north side of the bridge and every year there is a celebration of the retreat of the Davenport Army and the brave stand of the town's defenders.

The battle area around Queen City is now quiet and has returned to its agricultural roots with little to show that it was a focal point in Missouri's history. The path of the advance and retreat of the Davenport Army is still somewhat barren of human life as that area has yet to recover from the fighting. Just outside of Argyle, Iowa is the remains of the crashed helicopter flown by Jacobs and Czensatski. This helicopter is now part of a permanent memorial to Jacobs' sacrifice built by the people of Missouri and Iowa.

The inscription in bronze underneath the helicopter reads in part, "On this spot, a brave soldier laid down his life to prevent the rise of tyranny, may his sacrifice never be forgotten."

And every year, CW4 Robert Michael Czensatski (ret.) visits the monument and lays a wreath to remember the loss of his friend. He is joined by other veterans of the campaign and the defense of both Queen City and Keosauqua to remember those who died fighting for the defense of Missouri.

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